Lawn-mower attachment.



C. SWANSON.

LAWN MOWER ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1914.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Lawn-mourn ATTACHMENT.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 11515.

I Applicatidn filed February 20, 1914. Serial No. 820,062.

'Toizll whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES SWANSON, a

subject of'the King of Sweden, who'have In the accompanyingdrawing,-Figure 1 is a top View of a lawn-mower'with my attachmentmounted on it; a portion of the forked part of the handle being brokenaway to more fully expose the parts below it. Fig. 2 is a side elevationof Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top view of a lawn-mower of a difierent make orconstruction than the one shown in Fig. 1, with my attachment slightlymodified so as to make it applicable on such varied form of lawn-mower.Fig. 4 is a side elevation of Fig. 3 with the broken away portion of theguard bar 14 restored. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of either form'of themachine with many parts omitted and the ground roller in dotted outlineonly. Fig. 6 is a detail top view of the rear portion of one of theguard wires or arms. Fig. 7 is mainly a side view of the rear end of theother guard wire.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, 1 designates the handlebar having its forked end or arms 2 attached inany suitable manner tothe side pieces 3 of the mower frame, which is composed of saidside-pieces and'the usual bar 4 holding the stationary cutter blade (notshown) and a round frame bar 5. Some lawn-mowers have the round framebar near the front of the machine as the bar 6 in Figs. 3 and 4, othershave the two bars 5 and 6.

7 are the ground wheels suitably geared to the rotating cutting roller8.

9 is the usual wooden supporting roller across the rear of the machine.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 5 the roller 9 has its ends journaled in bearingblocks 10, which are adjustable up and down on the frame by beingsecured thereto by bolts 11 passed through slots 12 in the bearings (see'12 in The guarding attachment is composed of a.

runner 13 formed of a board arranged to stand edgewise upon the groundand having the top of its front end beveled downward almost to theground and provided with two upwardly and rearwardly slanting guard bars14 and 15. The runner 13, has its rear end provided with a hole adaptedto receive the bolt 11 of one side of the machine and have the nut ofsaidbolt adjusted against the outer side of the runner. If the machineis so constructed that this will bring the runner too close to the sideof the frame 3, or to the wheel 7, where the latter is outside the frameas in Figs. 3 and 4, the bolt 11 is removed and a stud 11 substituted.Said stud, it will be seen, has a thick middle portion 11*, forming atone end a shoulder 11. which acts as a bolt head against the bearingblock 10 when the nut 11 is tightened; and the shoulder 11 holds therunner in the desired outward position while a nut 11 retains the runnerin said position, the nut being tight on the stud or against a shoulder11 thereof, leaves the runner in a pivoted position so it inay swingslightly up and down in passing over uneven parts of ground.

In lawn-mowers having the bar 5, the guard wire or arm 14 has its rearend 17 bent horizontally as shown in Fig. 6 and sprung into a centralcavity in the end of the bar 5. The other guard arm 15 has its rear endformed with a hook 18 (see Fig. 7) resting upon the bar 5. i

In Figs. 3 and 4 is shown how the guard 15 may have a fork-shaped loop18 straddling the front bar 6. The rear end of said guard 15' may alsothen rest on the bar 5 if the latter bar is present, if not present, theguard may terminate as at 19 in Fig. 4, it being held by its front endand partly supported by the bar 6. Where the said bar 5 is absent, theend 17 of the guard 14 may be inserted in a special hole drilled forthat purpose in the side piece 5 of the frame, or

if the guard is made heavy enough its rear end may remain unsupported.

The loop 20 in Figs. 1 and 7 is to avoid sharp bending of the wire informing the hook 18; it is also handy for hanging the attachment on apeg during the seasons when there is no use for it.

In the operation of the lawn-mower in cutting grass near by hedges,flower beds and the like, the side of the machine having the guard iscaused to pass close by the flowers, and in so doing it partly pressessidwise and partly raises the flowers and guards them from being eitherrolledl'dow'n or cut by the machine.

'InsimiIar manner the guard acts on leaning or hanging twigs andbranches of lilacs,

snow-ball bushes and the like on the lawn. \Vhat I claim is: a 1. A lawnmower attachment extending in advance of the lawn mower and comprising arunner,-means for pivotally attaching its rear portion to the side ofthe lawn mower frame, so the front end of the runner may vibrate up anddown, an inclined arched guard bar secured with its front end to thefront end of the runner and means for securing its rear end to the mowerframe above the runner.

2. A lawn mower attachment extending in advance of the lawn mower andcomprising arunner, meansforpivotally attaching its rear portion to theside of a lawn mower frame, so the front end of the runner may vibrateup and down, an inclined arched guard bar secured with its front end tothe front end of the runner and means for se- ,curlng its rear end tothe mower frame above the runner, and a second inclined arched guard barhavingits front end secured to CHARLES SWANSON.

Witnesses:

N. E. WRETMAN, EMMA L. WRETMAN.

